Turkey calls Syria airstrikes 'late response’ to regime

ISTANBUL, TURKEY - APRIL 15: Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim speaks at the 6th Ordinary Congress of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party in Istanbul's Tuzla district on April 15, 2018. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim on Sunday termed the U.S.-led airstrikes targeting the Assad regime’s alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria as a “positive” but “late response”. Yildirim said: “It is a late response to the regime and vile murderers, who caused the atrocity in the region.” However, he said it was still a “positive step,” taken by three allied countries. “The Syrian regime has been doing the same thing for seven years. The West suddenly remembered the suffering of people when chemical weapon was used," Yildirim said. Turkey will continue to protect civilians from all murderers bent on destroying and slaughtering people through conventional and chemical weapons, the premier added. The U.S., U.K., and France launched airstrikes on the Assad regime's alleged chemical weapons facilities in Syria earlier on Saturday. The strikes came after the Assad regime was accused of carrying out a chemical attack in Syria's Douma, which killed 78 civilians and injured hundreds of others. (Footage by Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)